‘No regrets’ over not making Nyetimber 2012

Nyetimber’s winemaker Brad Greatrix has revealed that he has no regrets about his decision not to make any English sparkling wine at the estate in 2012.

Speaking to the drinks business during a recent visit to the estate in West Sussex, Greatrix said: “We produced 1/6 of the wine we usually make in 2011 and we made nothing at all in 2012, so January 2013 was a dark time of staring into empty tanks, but I don’t regret the decision not to make wine in 2012 at all.

“The conditions were too cold and wet in 2012 to make wine – people think it was about botrytis but the grapes didn’t ripen in the first place so we didn’t even pick them. The biggest challenge of making English sparkling wine is the weather.”

As for the 2015 vintage, ripening is currently a week behind schedule at Nyetimber. “We’re in the hands of the gods at the moment – we really need a good September and early October to keep things on track,” Greatrix said.

Nyetimber’s single vineyard blanc de noirs Tillington

He admitted to db that he would rather not have to wait until the tail end of October to harvest as by that point “it’s more of a risk to leave the grapes on the vine than it is to harvest them as they’re vulnerable to frost.”

“I’ve never been a believer that wines correct themselves in time. They need to start off great to end up great,” he said.

However, Greatrix believes that the longer growing cycle in England compared to Champagne allows the grapes to develop extra flavour compounds to their French counterparts, giving the wines extra elegance and finesse.

He joined Nyetimber with his winemaker wife Cherie Spriggs in 2007 having clocked up experience in the McLaren Vale and at Château Margaux.

Nyetimber was the first English sparkling estate to plant Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and the first to use the three Champagne varieties to make traditional method fizz.

“Back in the late ‘80s, people didn’t believe that Chardonnay would be able to ripen here but the previous owners of the estate thought differently and decided to plant it,” Greatrix said.

The first ever Nyetimber release was a 1992 Blanc de Blancs. “I had a bottle the other day and it still tastes fresh and has outlived a number of more recent vintages,” he revealed.

Greatrix believes that the lifespan of an English sparkling wine vine is in the region of 25 years, meaning that the estate has recently replanted a number of its vines as its original Chardonnay plantings have become “old and tired”.

“Old vines are like people, they become tired and less productive with age. They work for still wines as you get small, concentrated berries but you don’t want that in sparkling wine production as they bring with them a heaviness to the wines,” he said.

Meticulous in their methods, he and Spriggs made 96 base wines last year from which to make Nyetimber’s flagship sparkler Classic Cuvée, the 2010 vintage of which was crowned Best English Sparkling Wine at Tom Stevenson’s 2015 Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships earlier this month.

“We’re not trying to copy Champagne but our fresher style is more akin to Pol Roger, Perrier-Jouët and Deutz than Bollinger or Krug,” he revealed.

Greatrix views the swath of new players in English sparkling wine as a positive thing: “The industry is growing quickly and become more professional – we’re working together to collectively promote ‘brand England’ rather than fighting for shelf space,” he said.

“There was less dialogue in the beginning as there was more insecurity among the producers, but we’re starting to see house styles emerging, which is great,” he added.

Nyetimber has 145 hectares of vines across eight sites, including six in West Sussex and two Chardonnay vineyards in Hampshire.